Soul Eater: Unsheathed Wrath
by Pen-Apprentice
Summary: A great storm of madness sweeps over the two clans of Shinigami and Arachne. How will the story unfold as Maka and the others struggle against their lives as wildcats?  May contain spoilers of the actual series.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

The clearing was filled with ear-splitting screeches of the battling cats under the blood-red sky. The eyes of the savage intruders flickered madly as their claws raked across flesh, spilling blood onto the forest floor. A yellow she-cat with a tabby-striped tail attempted to race from the medicine den in the direction of the clearing entrance before turning to face a blonde queen hurtling towards her.

"Traitor!" she yowled, and swiped at the medicine cat. Dodging it, she leaped backwards. Paws skidding to a halt, she crouched low to the ground and bolted behind the queen as sly as a snake. The queen turned, confused. The medicine cat unsheathed her thorn-sharp claws and raced towards her, raking them across her flank.

A small kit watched in horror from the nursery entrance as the queen fell onto her back and the yellow she-cat's claws tore across her belly. The kit wailed and began to run on small, trembling paws toward the fallen queen, despite the screeching bloodshed of the fighting cats battling around her. By the time she reached her side, the light had died from her eyes and her body lie limp. The medicine cat looked down at the dead queen in satisfaction, her lips pulled back into a sneer.

She turned her gaze on the kit who stood frozen, eyes wide. "One day, you and _I_ will meet in battle. . . ." she hissed into the kit's face, her yellow eyes gleaming. The kit could do nothing but crouch helplessly in fear as she watched her turn and flee from the camp in an evil fit of laughter, along with the other intruders, until the shadows swallowed them up.


	2. Chapter 1

The green forest trees stood outlined against the gray sky. A mouse nibbled on a walnut on a fallen tree branch in the shadows of the undergrowth. A barely audible _snap_ sounded from a bush not too far away. The mouse stopped what it was doing and looked in the direction the sound had come from, standing as still as a stone, still grasping the nut between its tiny paws.

All was quiet, even the forest itself as if the world were holding its breath. The small creature eventually resumed its meal, forgetting about the bush. Suddenly a blonde, lithe shape burst from the undergrowth of the bush, sending leaves flying. Its green eyes blazing and claws digging through the dirt, it leaped toward the startled mouse.

"Maka!" A loud yowl sounded from nearby. The she-cat faltered, landing awkwardly on the branch, almost hitting the ground hard before catching herself. The mouse scurried away from underneath her into a small hole in the ground a few tail-lengths away.

"You _idiot_!" She whirled around furiously to confront the voice who had ruined her catch. A pure white tom with unusual blood-red eyes stared nearby in confusion. "I would've _had_ that prey if it wasn't for your loud mouth waking everything in the forest!"

Realizing what he had done, he simply replied, "You wouldn't have had it anyway. Your balance was a bit off." This only fueled the she-cat's fury as her pelt bristled with annoyance.

"Soul, do you realize that if we don't have enough prey by the end of the assessment, that we won't become _warriors_?" Maka hissed. Soul only grunted and turned away, only to be blocked by a larger white tom.

"All right, you two. It's time to head back to the clearing," he announced. Maka cast a glare at Soul as they followed their mentor back to the other apprentices.

Several cats awaited the arrival of Maka and the others while murmuring quietly to each other in the center of the mossy clearing: one sleek, black tom with three unusual white stripes going down the left side of his flank, two orange identical she-cats, one shorter than the other, a gray, broad-shouldered tom with black paws, a jet-black she-cat with dark blue eyes, and an older red tom.

"I told you! Keep the mice separated from the moles," the black tom fussed. The tallest of the orange she-cats sighed while the other threw a high-pitched laugh like a kit.

". . . choose me for deputy to become leader if I am to surpass Starclan one day! After all, I'm named after one of the ancient leaders," the gray cat boasted to the black she-cat, who was listening intently. The bushes shook as Maka, Soul, and their mentor arrived.

The red tom stood from where he was sitting with his tail curled neatly over his paws.

"Ah! There you are. I was beginning to wonder. . . ." The three settled beside the others who had been patiently waiting. Maka, still looking annoyed with the white tom, dropped the prey that had been dangling from her jaws and sat next to the black she-cat, her tail twitching with frustration.

"Did everything go okay, Maka?" She asked.

Maka sighed, "Yes, besides the fact the Soul had to go and scare off all the prey from here to Starclan," she replied without hesitation, her ears flat against her head. Soul only snorted and sat next to the gray tom with a _thud_, dropping his prey in front of him. Maka heard Blackstar murmur something to the white apprentice that she couldn't quite catch, but had obviously been about her judging by Soul's quiet snickering afterwards. Her ears twitched and she ignored it.

Their mentor, Stein, stepped forward to address the apprentices. "Now, we know all of you did your best today, well, _almost_ all of you." He glanced at one cat in particular, which happened to be Blackstar. A sulky expression appeared over his face as Stein continued. "Both Spirit and I watched your progress during the assessment, and most of you did well-"

"Get on with it! Are we going to become warriors?" Blackstar interrupted, his tail sweeping the grass as he straightened himself. Tsubaki gave him a warning glance, but Maka could sense her anxiety as she, too, wanted to know what all their hard work had come down to.

Stein's eyes narrowed. After a few heartbeats, he finally replied, "You all failed."


End file.
